


Down by the Riverbed

by ThePackWantstheD



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Childhood Friends, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 20:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13666710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePackWantstheD/pseuds/ThePackWantstheD
Summary: A universe in which it's Tobirama that meets Madara at the river, not Hashirama.





	Down by the Riverbed

**part one:** meet me by the rivers edge

 

"Who are you?"

Tobirama didn't bother looking at the speaker, instead keeping his gaze focused on the water in front of him. He might have reacted if he'd been caught off-guard, but he hadn't been.

His abilities as a sensor were untrained, but they were strong. He had sensed the chakra coming towards when it'd been much further out, so the interruption wasn't unexpected.

He'd briefly considered leaving the river when he'd first felt it, but the fact of the matter was that home was hectic. When he was at home he had to worry about Touka bombarding him with requests to spar with her and Hashirama trying to convince him to take a break to spend time with him. Occasionally, even his father would interrupt Tobirama in order to extend an invitation to help him with his jutsu.

Tobirama loved his family. So most days he didn't mind any of those things, but some days he just wanted to sit down and focus without having to deal with the constant interruptions.

He'd first found the river on one of those days. He had been wanting desperately to practice his jutsu, but Hashirama had been trying to get his attention all day so practicing at home had been absolutely out of the question. He'd been searching for somewhere to practice when he'd heard the sound of the river.

It had been his favorite practice spot for months now.

Tobirama wasn't going to let the appearance of an Uchiha drive him away from his place or his work.

"Hey," the speaker said, voice raising. Tobirama had to focus very hard to keep himself from twitching. If he'd wanted to listen to someone shouting than he would have stayed at home. "Hey! Can you hear me?" Tobirama's irritation spiked. Was it really such a difficult thing for people to leave him alone when he was trying to work? "You can hear me! I saw you twitch! Are you ignoring me?" Tobirama ground his teeth together. He took a deep breath, trying to refocus himself. "I saw that too! Why are you ignoring me?"

Tobirama felt his patience snap. He could hold out a lot longer against Hashirama and Touka, but his patience was a lot lower when it came to people who weren't his blood. 

"Be quiet!" Tobirama snapped, looking up from the water. The boy on the other side of the river was older than him, but only barely. Probably around Hashirama's age. His hair was the blue-tinted black that was characteristic of the Uchiha's. "I am _trying_ to practice!" His final word was punctuated by the splashing of the water in front of him, the river reacting to the anger of someone who had spent the last hour focusing their chakra on it.

For a moment the two boys just stared at each other.

Then the other boy said, "I don't know that jutsu. Teach it to me."

Tobirama opened his mouth to deny the request, but stopped before he got the words out.

Teaching an Uchiha one of his jutsu would give them a weapon against his family, but Tobirama knew a counter for each jutsu he knew. It was an insistence of his father that they know how to stop anything they knew how to do.

There were benefits to it as well. There weren't many people in Tobirama's family with a fire affinity. Almost the entirety of the Senju held affinities towards earth or water. Tobirama thought that observing how the jutsu worked for someone with one would be interesting.

Tobirama hadn't had an opportunity to learn more than just basic fire jutsu since there were so few Senju that could teach them. And learning fire jutsu from a Uchiha would not only strength him, but it would teach him more about what jutsus the Uchiha's used and that could strengthen the entire clan. 

"Alright," Tobirama said. "But only if you teach me a jutsu as well."

"Okay," the boy agreed easily. "You have to teach me first though since I asked first."

"That's fine."

* * *

Tobirama had agreed to help Madara, he learned that was the Uchiha's name when they parted ways after their first meeting, for the knowledge that the opportunity would give him.

As time passed, however, Tobirama began helping Madara because the older boy was his friend.

It was a strange sort of friendship - one built on competition and challenges - but it was one that Tobirama treasured.

There wasn't anyone in his family that challenged him the way that Madara did. He had Hashirama and Touka, of course, but his relationship with them was different. When he snapped at them, they were more likely to laugh at him than to actually fight with him.

Madara was different. When Tobirama snapped, Madara snapped back. They would get into screaming matches until Madara said something that made something in Tobirama's brain _click_ and then he was ignoring Madara's anger in favor of trying the jutsu Madara had been teaching him again. He almost always got things right after a shouting match with Madara.

When Tobirama was practicing with a weapon instead of working on his jutsu, Madara would sit on the other side of the river and lazily correct something he was doing. Tobirama generally found Madara's corrections so annoying that he ended up challenging Madara to do better. It would turn into a competition to see who could do better. After the first time they'd argued about Tobirama's accuracy with kunai, Tobirama had improved so much that his father had commented on it the next time he was training with him.

They clashed often, but it wasn't like fighting was all they did. They spent a lot of time talking while they were working.

Madara told him about birds and falconry and how much he loved them. Tobirama spoke about the books he read when he wasn't training and rambled about all of the questions he had that no one could answer.

Madara told him about his dreams for peace between the Uchiha and Senju. Tobirama told him how Hashirama wished for the same thing, but how Tobirama didn't care about peace as long as people stopped dying. He told Madara about the conversation he'd had with Itama and Hashirama after Kawarama's death - how he didn't understand why adults mourned those who died while refusing to sign pacts and treaties that could actually stop that death.

It was because he treasured that friendship that he didn't go to the river the day he felt Hashirama following him.

Instead he'd turned around immediately to confront his brother. Hashirama explained that their father had sent him to figure out where Tobirama was going when he left home, finding it suspicious that Tobirama was leaving so often when he usually preferred to hole up in his bedroom with a book.

The two of them went back to their father and Tobirama explained himself. He explained that sometimes he wanted to train without worrying about anyone bothering him. It was Tobirama speaking, the son that followed his orders and did what he was told and almost never questioned him the way Hashirama did, so Butsuma believed him. He told Tobirama he could continue leaving to practice.

Even with his father's promise that he wouldn't send anyone else to follow him, Tobirama told Madara that he was a Senju the next time they met. If his father had sent someone after him, than he was sure someone had been sent to watch Madara - or would be sent to watch Madara if they hadn't already - and he didn't want someone else to tell Madara who he was.

Tobirama didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't for Madara to shrug it off the way he did.

When Tobirama pushed, Madara admitted that he'd suspected that Tobirama was probably a Senju. There weren't many Senju with Tobirama's light coloring, but there weren't many clans with that light coloring period and the Yamanaka lived so far away that Tobirama being one of them didn't make much sense.

Tobirama asked how Madara could be so casual about the fact that he was a Senju.

Madara told him that being best friends with Butsuma Senju's second son seemed like a step towards the peace he wanted.

* * *

"You little-" Tobirama ignored Madara's growled insults. He threw his head back, laughing loudly. "Stop laughing at me!"

Madara glared at Tobirama, but it didn't do much to Tobirama.

In fact, Madara glaring at him while sopping wet from head to toe only had Tobirama's amusement growing. 

"Stop laughing!" Madara insisted again.

"You just look so stupid," Tobirama said as another round of chuckles fell from his lips.

He'd never been particularly prone to laughing fits, but Madara had always managed to get Tobirama to open up more. It was easy to be different when Madara never looked at him and saw the clan heads second son.

Madara only knew Hashirama from stories. He couldn't compare the two of them. Tobirama didn't need to worry about being a good son, didn't need to be a good soldier to off-balance Hashirama's idealism. It wasn't like Tobirama minded that role, not when he was generally quieter and more logic bases than Hashirama anyway, but it was nice to be with Madara and not have to worry about it so much.

"And whose fault is that!"

"Not mine. I told you to step back. It's not my fault if you go far enough."

"You could've told me to move further!"

"I was doing a jutsu. I wasn't going to waste time watching you."

"It doesn't take that much concentration to warn someone before you shoot a geyser into their face!"

"It takes more than I was willing to expend on you."

Madara reached up, peeling his wet bangs away from his forehead and pushing them off to the side of his face. "You are the worst."

"Does saying that make you feel better?"

"Yes," Madara snapped. "Because it's _true_."

Tobirama crossed his arms over his chest, nodding a little bit. "If thinking that makes you feel better."

"You know what?" Madara said, "I'm going to shoot a fireball at you and see how _you_  like getting caught in the face with a jutsu."

Tobirama rolled his eyes. "Stop being dramatic. It was a little bit of water. You're hardly going to die just because you got a little wet."

"A little wet? I'm soaked, Senju!"

"You wouldn't be if you had stepped further back," Tobirama pointed out, because now seemed like a good time to bring that point back and rile Madara up further.

"I already said, this wouldn't have happened if you'd just _told_  me I needed to stand further back!"

"Stop complaining about it and sit down," Tobirama said. "I'll teach you how to do it."

Madara didn't hesitate to sink down, folding his legs under him. It was as good a sign as any that despite all of his complaining, he wasn't actually that upset with Tobirama. Even if Tobirama had already known that was the case, because this was simply how he and Madara interacted with each other, it was nice to have proof. "Are you going to stay there so that you get soaked too?"

"Absolutely not," Tobirama said. "I'm not an idiot."

"Practicing my fireballs is growing more appealing by the second."

 

 

 

 **part two:** you were my first love

  
Tobirama heard Madara let out a loud sigh, a little more dramatic than usual but nothing that he found too out of place for the person in question, before saying, "I'm coming over there."

"What?" Tobirama said, looking up from the book in his lap.

Madara was standing on the other side of the river bank, already making his way towards the large stones that formed a make shift bridge across the river.

In the years since they had first started meeting at the river, Madara had lost the round baby fat of his youth and his face had sharpened. He'd shot up and his body had packed muscle in until he was tall and broad. He had been letting his hair grow long recently, so now it framed his face nicely and hung just above his shoulders. He had been a cute child, but now Madara was attractive in the way of men.

They hadn't talked about it, but Tobirama was sure that more than one of the surrounding clans were interested in a marriage pact with the Uchiha. They would want to tie themselves to the Uchiha's since they were strong and it there would be a lot less argument from a prospective bride if she knew she'd be marrying a man as attractive as Madara.

Tobirama tried to ignore how his stomach twisted when he thought about Madara being married to some random woman.

It had been years since they'd first started meeting at the river, but neither of them had ever crossed to the other side. There had been a sort of unspoken agreement that it wasn't a good idea. Tobirama was good about sensing anyone that might come to see them, Hashirama and Izuna had both been sent to take their respective brothers back home at one point or another when they'd stayed at the river late, but if he did happen to miss something it would be easier to explain if they weren't sitting right next to each other.

"I'm coming over there," Madara repeated as he stepped onto the first stone.

"Why?" Tobirama asked, watching as Madara hopped quickly across the stones.

Madara stopped before he could take the last step, moving from the final stone to the river bank. He opened his mouth to say something, but then his face dusted a light pink and he closed it.

There was a very small pause, barely noticeable, before he opened his mouth again and said, "Your book sounds interesting. I want to read it too."

Tobirama's eyebrows knitted together, confusion following over his face. He had brought plenty of interesting books to the river with him. Madara had always been content with having Tobirama read them to him or with Tobirama explaining the parts that he was most interested in. He didn't see why this particular book, which wasn't even relevant to any of Madara's interests, would change that.

Without knowing why Madara was lying though, he didn't see a point in questioning it. Not when he hadn't had the time to develop a hypothesis about his actions yet.

"Okay..."

Madara dropped down onto the ground next to Tobirama. He had sat close enough that their knees were bumping together, radiating warmth where they were touching. He leaned in close to Tobirama, "What was the last thing you read me?"

Tobirama was finding it hard to concentrate with Madara sitting so close to him. He cleared his throat, trying to focus on the page in front of him rather than the boy beside him.

When he found where he'd left off, he tapped his thumb against the page to the side of the last sentence he'd read. "Here."

* * *

Tobirama didn't know what he was expecting from the next few visits, but it wasn't for Madara to continue finding reasons to cross the river and get into Tobirama's space.

They'd spent years correcting each other's forms without needing to touch each other. Now Madara insisted on coming across the river to direct Tobirama himself. What was even stranger was that neither of them really made mistakes in their form anymore, not when they were adults and had spent their entire lives practicing. The corrections they made now were mostly for show, made so they could trade affectionate insults. Which made Madara was coming across the river just to push Tobirama around, kicking his feet lightly against the inside of Tobirama's ankles in order to make him spread his legs or placing his hands on Tobirama's elbows to guide him into a different position, seem even stranger.  

They didn't usually teach each other jutsu anymore, both having reached a point where the things they were doing within their affinities were just too difficult for someone with an opposing affinity to get a good grasp on, but they liked to use them to mess with each other still. Tobirama had always enjoyed flicking water at Madara, watching the older boy sputter and huff whenever he did it. Madara had always had a thing for shooting small flames at Tobirama, never hitting him with them but instead letting them get just close enough for Tobirama to feel the heat. And they both enjoyed showing off when they could, demonstrating new techniques that were each grander than the last. Usually they did these things from across the clearing, but now Madara would come to Tobirama's side and stand next to him when he wanted to show him something he'd learned. They were close enough that Tobirama feel not just the heat of the fire in front of them, but also the movement of Madara's body. 

Madara interest in books that he usually wouldn't have had more then a few words to say about continued too. He would sit next to Tobirama, close enough that their knees were pressed together, and lean forward so their shoulders bumped when he was reading. Time didn't make those days any less distracting than it was the first time Madara did it. Tobirama almost always ended up reading the book again when he was at home because he absorbed absolutely none of that he was supposed to be reading, not when Madara was so distracting.

Tobirama found the entire thing disorienting.

He didn't know why Madara had suddenly decided to change things between them. He couldn't figure out why he found Madara's touch so distracting.

He had briefly considered asking Touka or Hashirama what they thought, Tobirama had always found books much easier to understand than people while his cousin and brother were both socially oriented in a way that Tobirama found exhausting, but quickly dismissed that. Not only did telling them come with the risk of them asking who it was that Tobirama was talking about, but there was something about the entire situation that felt personal.

It felt like something that was meant to stay between him and Madara, like something he _wanted_  to keep to himself.

* * *

Tobirama was looking down at the scroll in his lips, biting down on his bottom lip as he considered what to write next.

A group from the Uzumaki clan was visiting his home. They were mostly there to speak to his father about a possible marriage alliance, Tobirama was sure it would happen since Hashirama had began waxing sonnets after just a glance at his potential bride, but Tobirama had had questions about fūinjutsu and one of the delegation had been happy to help him.

As eager as Tobirama had been too learn, the presence of so many new people had gotten to be too much and he'd slipped out of his home with some of the practice materials his temporary teacher had given him.

"Tobirama," Madara said.

Tobirama startled a bit. He'd been so focused on his sealing that he'd almost forgotten that Madara was with him.

"Yes?" he said, looking up from the scroll.

Madara had been lying down beside him, having decided that if Tobirama was going to work on fūinjutsu than he was going to take a much needed nap, but he had swung up into a sitting position.

He was staring at Tobirama with a strange look on his face. When a moment passed without Madara saying anything else, Tobirama asked, "Did you actually have something to say or are you just annoyed that I'm not giving you attention?"

"I did," Madara said. "I just changed my mind about what I was going to say."

Tobirama raised an eyebrow, a silent request for Madara to continue. He wasn't expecting Madara to reach up, resting his palm against Tobirama's cheek.

"Can I kiss you?" Madara asked, leaning closer.

For a moment Tobirama's mind went completely blank.

Then it started working in overdrive, piecing together everything that he'd been confused about over the past few months.

He felt embarrassed and a little bit stupid for not having realized that Madara's change in behavior was indicative of Madara having developed a crush on him. He felt enough worst about not realizing that his own reactions were because he'd developed a crush on Madara as well.

Being friends with an Uchiha had been a bad idea, but kissing an Uchiha would be an even worst one.

Kissing an Uchiha was probably the worst possible idea Tobirama could ever have.

Tobirama thought it was probably time for him to have a bad idea instead of Hashirama.

"Yes," Tobirama said, shifting closer to Madara.

Madara's eyes widened a little, surprise coming over his face. "Really?"

"You asked thinking I'd say no?"

"I don't know what I was expecting."

Tobirama hummed a little bit. "Well, now I'm expecting you to kiss me and you aren't delivering."

"You are such an asshole," Madara said.

That didn't stop Madara from leaning in and closing the gap between them.

The kiss was clumsy and awkward. It was clear that neither of them had ever done this before, something which had a pleasant warmth growing in Tobirama's chest because he hadn't been anticipating that Madara would be as new to this as he was. Despite their inexperience, the kiss was enjoyable.

Tobirama was looking forward to kissing Madara even more in the future.

 

 

 

 **part three:** love is like war; easy to begin, hard to end.

  
"Stop," Tobirama said, blindly reaching a hand out to smack at Madara's.

The two of them were lying together on the riverbank. Tobirama had one of his arms under his head. Madara had himself propped up with one of his arms slung over Tobirama's stomach. They'd both come out in their armor, but stripped it off in favor of the lighter, looser clothing underneath. Madara was tapping his fingers against Tobirama's side, a light teasing dance of fingertips that ran from Tobirama's ribs all the way down to the waistband of his pants.

"Mmm no," Madara denied.

"Yes." Since the smacking hadn't deterred him at all, Tobirama caught Madara's hand in his own and laced their fingers together.

"I haven't had time to see you in ages," Madara said. "It's not that strange that I want to touch you."

"Touching me is not the problem," Tobirama said. "The problem is that you have been slowly going lower and lower. I already told you that I don't have time for that today."

"I'm not doing anything."

Tobirama had had his eyes closed, drifting pleasantly with the warmth of the sun on his chest and Madara tucked against his side. Now he turned his head and peeked an eye open to peer at Madara. His expression was carefully blank.

It had been almost three years since their first kiss on the riverbank.

In that time Tobirama had become intimately aware with how Madara acted when he wanted something from him.

"Alright," Madara said. "You were right, but it's been a while. I missed you."

"I know." Tobirama shifted, moving so he could lean up and press a kiss against Madara's lips. They weren't boys anymore. They were men with responsibilities to their families. Madara's responsibilities with the Uchiha had increased as he was pushed to step up as the next head of the clan. Tobirama had research to work on, students to teach, and patrols he was responsible for. It made meeting at the river bank more difficult than before. It only got harder as their fathers declined in health. "I missed you too."

Madara leaned forward to rest his forehead against Tobirama's, letting out a soft sigh as he did. "It's getting harder and harder to keep the elders off my back about a marriage. My father was married before he was appointed head of the clan."

"Who are they pushing for?"

"Does it matter?" Madara asked. "I'm not marrying anyone. Not when you're here."

Tobirama hummed. "You know that the elders aren't going to be satisfied with that."

"I'll figure it out," Madara said. "As long as you still want me, I'll figure it out."

"I do," Tobirama said. "But I'm not facing nearly as much pressure as you are. We could make a useful alliance if I married, but Hashirama being engaged to an Uzumaki is more than enough to keep anyone from pushing me. It's not the same for you."

"You're worth it." Madara leaned in, pressing their lips together again. When they pulled apart, he murmured, "You are worth every single second I spend arguing with the elders."

* * *

It wasn't too long after his discussion with Madara that both of their fathers passed away.

Tobirama wasn't sure how he felt about his father passing away. Butsuma hadn't been a good father, but he hadn't been a terrible one either. He'd been reserved and a little cold, but he had made time to help his sons train and he'd always encouraged Tobirama's hobbies. He might've encouraged them for selfish reasons, Tobirama's curiosity made him a better warrior and ultimately benefited the clan, but encouragement was still encouragement.

Tobirama didn't get to dwell on his feelings about his father's death very long, because the skirmishes with the Uchiha started increasing in frequency. The war with the Uchiha was an ongoing thing, but it was one that waxed and waned. With both clan heads dead, the elders were pushing Hashirama. They needed to capitalize on the weakness and disorientation that came with the Uchiha's switching leaders. They needed to show the other clan that their new head was just as strong as their previous one.

Mostly Tobirama stayed out of the skirmishes. He was a good warrior, but he had never relished in violence. He'd rather research and teach than fight. But when Tobirama did get involved, he did his best not to kill. He and Madara had spoken about this before, about how to handle the fact that they were from clans that were at war and that they were both expected to play prominent parts in their clans offense, and there was a sort of understanding that had arisen from that conversation. They both did their best to incapacitate without killing, but they also both understood that there were sometimes when the other party just _wouldn't stop_  and it was hard to follow that rule.

When the fighting escalated to full on battles, however, it was harder for Tobirama to stay out of it.

Instead of running all around the battlefield, Tobirama locked himself into battle with Izuna every time the clans clashed. It was a good match. Tobirama and Izuna probably would have been evenly matched under different circumstances, but Tobirama's time training with Madara meant that he knew how the Uchiha fought. If he could keep Izuna to close battles then Tobirama had enough of an upper hand to keep the battle going exactly how he wanted. It worked out well since not only could he keep Izuna from running off into the fray, because Izuna _was_  strong and Tobirama preferred to keep an eye on him rather than risk him getting a hold of another member of the family that wouldn't be able to hold their own against him, but he could make sure that Izuna didn't end up bumping into a member of the Senju that was stronger than him.

Fighting Izuna meant that Tobirama could protect his family and Madara's at the same time.

* * *

Tobirama noticed the mistake the second Izuna made it.

It was a simple slide of Izuna's feet, one that off-set his balance just enough that Tobirama's strike would slice Izuna open. The time it took him to pull back in order to not hit Izuna was just enough time for Izuna to right himself and push forward without Tobirama having the time to block.

There was a white hot flash of pain as Izuna's blade slipped between his ribs, pushing through Tobirama's body and coming out the other side.

"Tobirama!" shouted two voices as soon as the blade hit, both equally desperate.

The pain that hit as Izuna withdrew his blade had Tobirama tipping forward.

Before he hit the ground two sets of hands caught him.

"Brother?" Izuna said, voice full of confusion.

Madara ignored him, focused instead on helping Hashirama get Tobirama lying down.

"Tobi, hold on," Hashirama said, reaching his hands out towards the wound. "I'll heal you."

"Don't," Tobirama said. He reached up, grabbing his brother's wrist. "You don't have enough chakra left for that. You'd just be wasting what you do have." Hashirama shook his head. Before he could get the denial that was on his tongue out, Tobirama squeezed his brother's wrist. "You know that as well as I do."

"I can't just let you-"

"You can," Tobirama said. He squeezed his brother's wrist again, then pushed his hands away. He turned his head, looking at Madara who was kneeling on his other side. "Madara...."

"Don't say my name like that," Madara said. "This is not a goodbye."

Tobirama ignored him, because there wasn't any other way to say Madara's name when he was bleeding out. "I love you." There was a surprised sound from both Hashirama and Izuna, but Tobirama was focused entirely on Madara.

"I love you too," Madara told him. He turned his head, pressing a kiss against the center of Tobirama's hand.

Tobirama managed a weak smile. When Madara looked back at him, he said, "You have to convince the Uchiha to give up this fight. I need to know that you and Hashirama aren't going to end up killing each other."

"You could make sure that we don't kill each other yourself."

"Are you kidding me?" He joked, "If I had to deal with you and Hashirama at the same time I'd end up killing you both myself."

"You would never," Madara said. "You love us too much for that."

Tobirama was quiet for a moment before he murmured, "I really, really do." He forced himself to tear his gaze away from Madara, glancing over at Hashirama again. "No one else in the clan loses their brothers the way we did."

Tears were gathered in Hashirama's eyes as he nodded. "No one else."

Feeling secure in having said everything he needed to, confident that Hashirama and Madara would fulfill their promises, Tobirama finally stopped fighting and let his eyes drift shut.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
